Doll with free moving head



Feb; 11, 1969 C. AYALA DOLL WITH FREE movme HEAD Filed June 8, 1966 INVENTOR CAPA AWL/1 mhww //III/llll 5y 6 M 8 %u AT RNEY'S United States Patent 3,426,476 DOLL WITH FREE MOVING HEAD Carl Ayala, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Marvin Glass & Associates, Chicago, 11]., a partnership Filed June 8, 1966, Ser. No. 556,537 US. Cl. 46-164 Int. Cl. A63h 3/36, 11/00 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates generally to dolls and is particularly directed toward a novel form of doll structure which provides for essentially free movement of the head during the handling of the doll to simulate a life like action.

Dolls have been provided with movable joints and body sections heretofore, but any movement resulting from such construction was either effected manually or through use of motorized mechanism within the doll. In either case, the result is a rather unnatural appearance of movement. The present invention relates to novel means for providing a more natural movement of the doll head. Generally, this is provided by structure which permits relatively free pivoting of the doll head, under the influence of gravity, as the doll is moved about.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a new and improved form of doll, wherein the head of the doll can nod and turn from one side to the other as the doll body is moved. Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means for mounting a doll head on a doll body including a pivot connection therebetween. A more detailed object of the invention is to provide a doll having a pivot mounting arranged within the hollow neck of the doll and an element secured to the head of the doll and extending downwardly into the hollow body section, whereby such downwardly extending element is supported on such pivot mounting and includes means for placing the center of gravity of the doll head below the pivot mounting. A further object of the invention is to provide doll structure of the type referred to above, which includes a magnet in the head of the doll and which is cooperable with a magnet or metal object independent of the doll structure to effect movement of the doll head.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of the selected embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the doll figure;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the doll figure;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged longitudinal cross section of the doll head and the upper part of the body;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an elevation of a feeding spoon including a magnet; and

FIGURE 6 is an elevation of a feeding bottle including a magnet.

With reference to the drawings, it will be seen that a doll 10 embodying the present invention comprises a body or torso 12 having arms 14 and legs 16 attached thereto 3,426,476 Patented Feb. 11, 1969 and mounting a head 18 at the upper portion of the body. The body 12 is hollow and preferably made of one of the usual plastic materials used for doll construction. The upper end of the body (FIGURES 3 and'4) includes a generally circular opening 20 defining the neck portion 22 of the body, and a pivot mounting 24 is secured in position within the neck and below the opening 20. In the illustrated embodiment, this pivot mounting 24 is in the form of a generally circular or annular member 26 having formed therewith an elongated radial part 28 which extends to a position substantially on the the center axis of the neck opening 20. The inner end of projecting part 28 is provided with a generally conically shaped indentation 30 on its upper surface to provide a pivot point. The configuration of the inner end of projecting part 28, that is the surface below and surrounding the indentation 30, is peferably generally hemispherical, as indicated at 32, for reasons to be described later.

The head 18 includes an enlarged opening 34 at the lower end thereof, and a head-supporting part 36 is suitably secured to the walls defining this opening. The head supporting part 36 includes an. inverted cup-shaped, upper portion 38 to which is attached, or integrally formed therewith, an elongated pivot member 40 adapted to extend downwardly into the body 12 of the doll, when the head 18 is positioned as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4. The elongated pivot member 40 includes a downwardly extending, conical section 42, which is adapted to be received by the larger diameter conical depression 30 in the pivot mounting 24 to provide a point of contact between the two parts. A transverse ledge 44 is formed on the pivot part 40, in position to cooperate with the rounded end 32 of the pivot mounting to prevent displacement of the pivot part 40 relative to its support. More particularly, the spacing between ledge 44 and the rounded bottom of part 32 is sufiiciently great to permit free pivoting of part 40 relative to its support 24, but such spacing is not great enough to permit pivot 42 to escape from its seat in depression 30 during handling of the doll. The lower end of pivot part 40 includes an enlarged section 46 providing sufiicient weight to thereby place the center of gravity of the doll head and part 40 below the pivot mounting 24. For this reason, the pivot part 40 is preferably made of metal, or at least is provided with a mass of very heavy material at its lower end of sufficient weight to accomplish the stated purpose.

As seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, the inside diameter of the inverted cup part 38 on the head is substantially greater than the outside diameter of the neck 22 of the doll body. Consequently, the head 18 is free to rotate relative to the neck and is also free to nod back and forth a distance which is limited only by the spacing be tween the neck 22 and complimentary head part 36. The rotation of the head 18 about its vertical axis is limited by the presence of projecting part 24 providing the pivot support for the head in that sufficient rotation of part 40 about a vertical axis will cause it to strike one side or the other of support 24.

In order to provide further interest and play with respect to the described doll, there is preferably mounted within the head 18 a magnet 50 (FIGURE 3). The magnet 50 is preferably disposed immediately behind the lips 52 of the doll, and implements such as a spoon 54 (FIG- URE 5) and a nursing bottle 56 (FIGURE 6) are provided to cooperate with magnet 50 in effecting turning movement of head 18. For example, spoon 54 has a magnet 58 at its tip portion which is repelled by the magnet 50 when the two are brought close together to thereby cause the head 18 to move away from the spoon 54 to simulate rejection by the doll of the offered food. In this case, the magnets have the same poles facing each other in order to produce the described effect. On the other hand, bottle 56 has a piece of metal or a magnet 60, at the tip of its nipple portion, which will be attracted to the magnet 50 and thus cause the doll to accept the bottle and move its head toward the nipple. In the latter case, if a magnet is used at 60, the magnet will present a pole opposite to that presented by magnet 50 when the two are faced with each other.

Thus, it is seen that there is provided a doll having its head mounted for essentially free movement, so that as the doll body is moved about there will be an accompanying gravity induced movement of the head to provide a life-like appearance. It will be apparent that the extent of movement and the rate of speed of the movement of the head can be controlled to a degree by controlling the dimensions of the described parts.

Although shown and described with respect to particular structure, it will be apparent that various modifications might be made without departing from the principles of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A doll comprising a hollow body portion including a neck defined by an open upper end of said body portion, a head portion for the doll including an opening at the lower end for telescoping engagement with said neck, and means universally supporting said head portion on said body comprising a member fixed to said head and having a weighted end portion extending into said body, and cooperating means on said doll and said member providing for universal supporting movement of said member and head relative to said body.

2. A doll as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cooperating means includes essentially a point support for Said head, so as to provide universal pivoting movement of said head in response to movement of said doll body.

3. A doll as set forth in claim 1, wherein said head portion includes a first magnet, and means independently of said doll including a second magnet, whereby placement of said latter magnet means adjacent said first magnet produces movement of said head relative to said body.

4. A doll comprising a hollow body portion including a neck defined by an open upper end of said body portion, a head portion for the (1011 including an opening at the lower end for telescoping engagement with said neck, and means universally pivotally supporting said head portion on said body comprising an elongated member having an upper end portion fixed to said head and having a weighted lower end portion extending into said body, and cooperating means on said doll body and said elongated member providing a position of pivotal supporting movement of said member and head relative to said body, with the center of gravity of said head and elongated member disposed below said position of pivotal support.

5. A doll comprising a hollow body portion including a neck defining an opening at the upper end of said body, a bracket fixed to the interior of said neck and including a portion extending inwardly thereof, a head portion for the doll including an opening at the lower end for telescoping engagement with said neck, said head opening and neck being dimensioned to permit tilting movement of the head relative to the body, supporting means for said head comprising a part fixed to said head and including an elongated portion extending downwardly into the body, said elongated portion being formed with a downwardly extending pivot means and with a transverse ledge spaced below the free end of said pivot means, a mounting for said pivot means comprising a part fixed in position within said neck opening and including a radially projecting portion having its free end adjacent the axis of said opening, said projecting portion being formed at its free end with a concave recess on the upper surface for receiving said pivot means and provided with a rounded lower surface in closely spaced relation to said transverse ledge on said pivot means, and a weighted portion fixed at the lower end of said elongated portion so as to place the center of gravity of said head and supporting means below said pivot recess on said projecting portion.

6. A doll comprising a hollow body portion including a neck defining an opening at the upper end of said body, a bracket fixed to the interior of said neck and including a portion extending inwardly thereof, a head portion for the doll including an opening at the lower end for telescoping engagement with said neck, said head opening being substantially larger in diameter than the outside diameter of said neck to permit tilting movement of the head relative to the body, supporting means for said head comprising a part fixed to said head at the edge of the opening therein and including an elongated portion extending downwardly into the body, said elongated portion being formed with a downwardly extending pivot means and with a transverse ledge spaced below the free end of said pivot means, a mounting for said pivot means comprising an annular part fixed in position within said neck opening and including a radially projecting portion having its free end adjacent the axis of said opening, said projecting portion being formed at its free end with a concave recess on the upper surface for receiving said pivot means and provided with a rounded lower surface in closely spaced relation to said transverse ledge on said pivot means, and a weighted portion fixed at the lower end of said elongated portion so as to place the center of gravity of said head and supporting means below said pivot recess on said projecting portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,572,321 2/1926 Slater 46-164 2,519,883 8/1950 Bustanby 46-119 X 2,540,484 2/ 1951 Kellner 461 19 2,429,928 10/ 1947 Exline 46--151 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT F CUTTING, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 461 19 

